I love the 4th of July. The fireworks, getting together with family and friends, and the food (big surprise). I’m not much for parades, but if you like parades you can surely find at least one to suit your tastes. I like the fact that this is a holiday that unites us as a nation of communities and people of different backgrounds and traditions. There are many perspectives on what it means to be American, but on Independence Day, I think we can put a lot of that aside and celebrate the fact that we don’t all have to believe exactly the same things (the signers of the Declaration of Independence certainly didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything). We can commemorate our rich and varied history, made up of the victories and losses, the successes and disappointments, the dreams and fears of generations of folks from all over the political (and geographical) map.

Once you’ve digested the hot dogs and potato salad, and your ears have stopped ringing from the percussion of the neighbors’ roadside-stand fireworks, you can continue the celebration on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. That’s right, Trailheads, this is the July program preview (drumroll, please). Most sites on the Trails will be observing their regular Sunday schedule on July 4, but remember to check ahead to make sure that the site you want to visit will be open when you plan to be there. There’s a lot going on the rest of the month, too, so here goes.

July and August are prime time for summer history camps, but since we covered those in a post in June, they are not listed below.